From La Ronge to East End, 322 firefighters representing more than 35 fire departments enrolled in the training. Courses include beginner basics, water rescue, HazMat, traffic management, car fires and vehicle extraction — the same training career firefighters would receive.

“We need our people to come home in more or less the same shape as when we got them. The only way you become good at something is through practice and education,” said SVFFA president Doug Lapchuk.

Lapchuk says the goal of the training is for students to take what they’ve learned in the courses back to their fire halls, to ensure all firefighters have the right tools to carry out the job.

“We have a huge potential of knowledge loss by the veteran firefighters who may be retiring soon and we need to make sure we pass that on to our new people,” said Lapchuk, adding there’s always a need for more recruits.